Which is hurting the economy more right now?
Thanks for your help,
Rob
Commodity prices here. Of course I don’t know where you are.
Austin, Texas, USA.
Rob
Personally it is commodity prices, because I have a fixed rate mortgage and no other debt. But I think that it is the credit crunch for the economy as a whole. That’s depressing market prices and increasing the number of foreclosures, which is clobbering new construction (down 48% over last year in CA if I remember the story this morning correctly) which is hurting employment. The inability of people to cash in any remaining equity is also hurting sales. I think that is a bigger hit than the reduction in purchasing power due to higher gas and food prices.
Credit crunch if we are talking about the economy.
-XT
No doubt for me, it’s credit crunch. I haven’t really noticed/been affected by commodity pricing. I probably should have commodities in my portfolio because I hear that that’s the new bubble. But, the credit crunch affects my corporation and ultimately my job. We have a tougher time in terms of procurement (buying on credit), and from what my friends in M&A tell me, we have a harder time securing loans and issuing bonds. So far, though, it’s just a big annoyance, though it might get a whole lot worse before it gets better.